Thursday, January 29, 2009

Ten specific examples of what was against us and contrary to us...

If the last post didn't step on any toes, I'm sure this one will. But let's at least look at what the Scriptures say. "Let us reason together." :)

First, a summary:Scripture tells us that something was against us and contrary to us. It tells us that we were in bondage to something. It tells us that in Christ, this has now been taken out of the way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete. Isn't it quite astounding for God to go to such great lengths to take something out of the way, nail it to the cross and make it obsolete! So what is it that was against us, and contrary to us, and put us into bondage... and God then took out of the way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete?

Gal 4:24 "For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage..."

Col 2:13-14 "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

Heb 8:13 In that He says, 'A new covenant,' He has made the first obsolete. Now what is obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away."

What came from Mount Sinai? God's LAW. What is the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us? God's LAW. What has been taken out of the way, nailed to the cross? God's LAW. What has been made obsolete? The Old Covenant, which was based upon man keeping God's LAW.

Brace yourself, I'm here to lay it down.

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The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall have no other gods before Me."

The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."

The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."

The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you."

The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not murder."

The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not commit adultery."

The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not steal."

The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

We now have something so much better than all of this! All of the above is good and holy, but it was weak in that it could never do a thing to make us good and holy. All it did was to make us guilty before God. It was against us, contrary to us, and put us into nothing but bondage. But what the Law could not do, God did by sending His Son. We have now died to the above so that we could be joined with Christ, whose life in us will always lead us into what is good, holy and righteous. We are now free to serve righteousness, which is something we could never, ever find in the Law!

Your comments bring to mind the thought that the people who oppose this message don't quite understand the finished work of Christ - even though it's written plainly in the New Testament! Here's to the message of the finished and sufficient work of Christ not stepping on toes but lifting them up to help people walk lightly and freely in God's wonderful grace!

Lydia,

Indeed... imagine if this good news gospel message was actually preached in churches! How many people would finally find the freedom for which Christ has set them free!

I also wanted to add as a general part of this conversation that I realize that the cross will always be foolishness to the wise and will always be an offense and a stumbling block to the religious. But I hope and pray that among those who have already trusted in Christ, that their eyes will be opened to see the truth of the "ministry of death and condemnation" (the law) and they will see that Christ died to deliver us from that, not bring us into a better relationship with it!

Leonard, yep that's most certainly true. Sometimes I 'get' that intellectually, and I also get it, in that that was the case for Jesus and Paul and the early Christians... But it's taken me a while to fully realize (and I'm still in the process) that the things that I say, and the things that our friends here in the blogosphere say, and that the things that all of those around the world who preach the pure gospel say, is going to upset the religious apple cart. It's going to make people made angry, even furious.

But really you're right... it's truth over tradition, and so it's worth the heat. :)